Hillary Clinton Working to Woo Liberal Base

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is strategically shoring up support among key groups of Democratic presidential primary voters in an attempt to lay the groundwork for a 2016 bid for the White House, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Since leaving her role in the Obama administration earlier this year, Clinton has been staking out her ground on major policy issues through a number of speeches and appearances in an attempt to appeal to African-Americans, liberals, Hispanics, and gays and lesbians.

In August, Clinton delivered a speech denouncing efforts at voting reform that some think would make it more difficult for minorities to vote. She also recently appeared in a video for the Human Rights Campaign, declaring her support for same-sex marriage.

On Thursday, Clinton marked the 10th anniversary of the liberal think tank the Center for American Progress, with an address celebrating liberal values and ideals, the Journal reports.

Though polls indicate that Clinton would be the solid Democratic front-runner in a 2016 presidential bid, pundits expect she will face a challenge from the left that she is keen to head off as early as possible.

"She is testing themes, and she clearly doesn't want to be in the situation she was in last time around [in 2008], when [then candidate Barack] Obama got the jump on her in terms of activist support, excitement and energy," Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, told the Journal.

Strategists say Clinton will likely be vulnerable to criticisms from the left on her voting record in Washington, as well as her association with the Obama administration on the war in Afghanistan.